Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Biking through the tulips
When the weather is good, there is no better place to be in April than the Netherlands. When I saw the weatherman doing his weather forecast from the tulip fields, I knew what we needed to do. We took a bus with hundreds of giddy tourists to the Keukenhof, the most famous flower garden in the world. From here, we rented bicycles and biked around the periphery of the gardens which is a terrific way to see the fields full of tulips, daffodils (earlier in the spring) and hyacinths. These pics were incredibly hard to choose as Michiel got at least 70 beautiful shots. (I took a couple of nice ones, as well!)
Chillin´with the homeys in New York
We had an unenviable itinerary...Christchurch, New Zealand to Auckland to Los Angeles to New York with a couple of hours layover in each location. Much to my delight, I was mysteriously upgraded to Business Class. WOOOOO HOOOOO!! I´d always wondered what life was like upstairs in a 747.
Despite my request to upgrade him as well, poor Michiel had to suffer with an exit row in economy while I drank champagne, ate gourmet food and drank port, watched a movie with good headphones and slept nearly horizontally in Qantas pajamas. It made me wish I was rich enough to always travel that way, but more importantly, I realized that there is a missed opportunity for airlines to offer better seats for more money without all the extra frills. I would have been willing to pay extra for just the seat, nevermind the hand creams, shaving kit, white tablecloths and 3 flight attendants dedicated to my small section that come with a Business Class ticket that costs thousands of dollars more than economy class. Managers of airlines, feel free to steal the idea - upgraded seats without the upgraded service for less money than business class.
We spent a week in New York visiting my family and mom was good enough to fly up from Florida for the occasion. We did lots of resting, catching up with American television and some sightseeing. We spent a day driving up the Hudson River and visited the Moorish home of Frederic Church of the Hudson River School of landscape painting and (the highlight of the day) took a tour of the world famous Culinary Institute of America (known as the other CIA). We even got to sample several decadent desserts that had just been pulled out of the oven by student bakers.
The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park
With Lisa, Mom and Michiel at Olana, Frederick Church´s home on the Hudson River
With Lisa and the Hudson River in the background
Despite my request to upgrade him as well, poor Michiel had to suffer with an exit row in economy while I drank champagne, ate gourmet food and drank port, watched a movie with good headphones and slept nearly horizontally in Qantas pajamas. It made me wish I was rich enough to always travel that way, but more importantly, I realized that there is a missed opportunity for airlines to offer better seats for more money without all the extra frills. I would have been willing to pay extra for just the seat, nevermind the hand creams, shaving kit, white tablecloths and 3 flight attendants dedicated to my small section that come with a Business Class ticket that costs thousands of dollars more than economy class. Managers of airlines, feel free to steal the idea - upgraded seats without the upgraded service for less money than business class.
We spent a week in New York visiting my family and mom was good enough to fly up from Florida for the occasion. We did lots of resting, catching up with American television and some sightseeing. We spent a day driving up the Hudson River and visited the Moorish home of Frederic Church of the Hudson River School of landscape painting and (the highlight of the day) took a tour of the world famous Culinary Institute of America (known as the other CIA). We even got to sample several decadent desserts that had just been pulled out of the oven by student bakers.
The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park
With Lisa, Mom and Michiel at Olana, Frederick Church´s home on the Hudson River
With Lisa and the Hudson River in the background
WWOOF!
We had an extra week in New Zealand and decided to save our money by becoming WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) volunteers. WWOOF is an international organization of organic (or wanna be organic) farmers and homesteaders who require assistance. In return for 5, 6 or 7 hours of labor per day, volunteers receive a place to stay, three meals and sometimes extras, such as the use of a car or swimming pool. The labor can range from weeding and planting to construction, animal care, and even childcare. Every WWOOF host offers a unique opportunity to experience rural life in whichever region they´re located in.
We contacted some hosts on the Banks Peninsula based on very positive feedback from our friends, Mike and Ali, who had done some WWOOFing there. Though the listed hosts did not have availability, they did refer us to a lady who needed assistance. Through email contact, we arranged our stay.
We stayed in Little River for a week and had a pretty luxurious WWOOFing assignment. Our accommodation was in a separate "sleep-out", a room off the garage with heat and wireless internet and our hostess (or Michiel) made us three meals per day as well as a coffee break with bread or cake. Most of the meals were centered around fruit and veg from her garden with the addition of store-bought items like sausage or fish or oatmeal for breakfast. She had apple, pear, lemon and lime trees, berry and grape plants and a decent-sized organic garden with companion planting.
One of the things I´ve taken with me from this experience is her recipe for a refreshing herbal tea:
Steep 3-4 leaves of lemon verbena, a slice of fresh ginger root and a slice of lemon in hot water for 3-5 minutes. Serve.
Our room and the grapes
The side yard
Our tasks included removing some non-producing berry plants, making a planter box, mulching around trees and shrubs, mowing, cleaning the pool (a new skill to add to my resume), chainsawing and clearing a downed tree that fell across the driveway during a storm, bringing rubbish to the dump and washing windows when the wild winds prohibited us from working outside.
The berries have been removed and Michiel has built a planter box for next year´s tomato plants
We did some travel around the Banks Peninsula after our week was up, then spent a wonderful weekend with our friends, Anna and Chris.
Scenic drive on the Peninsula
With Anna on the Godley Head trail.
We contacted some hosts on the Banks Peninsula based on very positive feedback from our friends, Mike and Ali, who had done some WWOOFing there. Though the listed hosts did not have availability, they did refer us to a lady who needed assistance. Through email contact, we arranged our stay.
We stayed in Little River for a week and had a pretty luxurious WWOOFing assignment. Our accommodation was in a separate "sleep-out", a room off the garage with heat and wireless internet and our hostess (or Michiel) made us three meals per day as well as a coffee break with bread or cake. Most of the meals were centered around fruit and veg from her garden with the addition of store-bought items like sausage or fish or oatmeal for breakfast. She had apple, pear, lemon and lime trees, berry and grape plants and a decent-sized organic garden with companion planting.
One of the things I´ve taken with me from this experience is her recipe for a refreshing herbal tea:
Steep 3-4 leaves of lemon verbena, a slice of fresh ginger root and a slice of lemon in hot water for 3-5 minutes. Serve.
Our room and the grapes
The side yard
Our tasks included removing some non-producing berry plants, making a planter box, mulching around trees and shrubs, mowing, cleaning the pool (a new skill to add to my resume), chainsawing and clearing a downed tree that fell across the driveway during a storm, bringing rubbish to the dump and washing windows when the wild winds prohibited us from working outside.
The berries have been removed and Michiel has built a planter box for next year´s tomato plants
We did some travel around the Banks Peninsula after our week was up, then spent a wonderful weekend with our friends, Anna and Chris.
Scenic drive on the Peninsula
With Anna on the Godley Head trail.
Can I get a witness?
Timing is everything.
The day we went to the storage facility in Christchurch to pick up our left luggage, we bumped into DJ and Karen, friends from the ice. "Are you busy this afternoon?", DJ asked. Since we were only slowly heading out to the Banks Peninsula to start our WWOOFing assignment, we certainly could spare 15 minutes to witness their marriage ceremony. Which was a lucky thing, because DJ had a TO DO list that included stuff like: find witnesses, whack hair off, get married, email a friend and other items.
The day we went to the storage facility in Christchurch to pick up our left luggage, we bumped into DJ and Karen, friends from the ice. "Are you busy this afternoon?", DJ asked. Since we were only slowly heading out to the Banks Peninsula to start our WWOOFing assignment, we certainly could spare 15 minutes to witness their marriage ceremony. Which was a lucky thing, because DJ had a TO DO list that included stuff like: find witnesses, whack hair off, get married, email a friend and other items.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Our love affair with the Bay continues
Tossin' bales with Mike and Ali gave us a great opportunity to get to know these wonderful people better, so when our workshop ended and we felt kinda lost, we all decided that it would be a great idea to go on a backpacking trip. First, though, we did some serious relaxation. The construction work was physically demanding and being wall captains on the final weekend was mentally challenging, as well. We celebrated our success with a cookout on the beach featuring freshly harvested cockles (small clams) and New Zealand's famous green-lipped mussels. The following week, Michiel and I did our own mussel harvesting in terrifically rich hunting grounds!
The Anatoki River Hike - a long but not difficult hike through a river valley and then up onto a ridge, to descend, finally, into farmland.
Our hut - night 2
From the ridge
Looking down into the valley from Kill Devil Hill
After the 3 day backpacking trip, Michiel and I went out to Abel Tasman National Park for camping and a day hike. The beach sand was the most amazing color orange and the sunsets were stupendous...but, alas, the sandflies are so horrific that it's nearly impossible to stay still for too long. In fact, I will sheepishly admit that we spent both evenings reading in the car...I know, I know.....how lame! But have YOU ever experienced sandfly bites??! They itch for weeks...really.
The beach at Totaranui
Wainui Bay - Abel Tasman
We had a good hike, all the same but were quite keen to retreat back to our little bungalow in Collingwood and a day hike out at Cape Farewell.
Panorama at Cape Farewell
The motherlode!
Michiel works our bounty into a green curry mussel stew. Not all of the mussels were as big as his hand, but this one was!
The view from Collingwood
Sigh...the area is so beautiful, the beaches are gorgeous, the people are so laid back, friendly and liberal and the mussels are just there for the taking...If Golden Bay weren't so far away, we'd move there in a second.
The Anatoki River Hike - a long but not difficult hike through a river valley and then up onto a ridge, to descend, finally, into farmland.
Our hut - night 2
From the ridge
Looking down into the valley from Kill Devil Hill
After the 3 day backpacking trip, Michiel and I went out to Abel Tasman National Park for camping and a day hike. The beach sand was the most amazing color orange and the sunsets were stupendous...but, alas, the sandflies are so horrific that it's nearly impossible to stay still for too long. In fact, I will sheepishly admit that we spent both evenings reading in the car...I know, I know.....how lame! But have YOU ever experienced sandfly bites??! They itch for weeks...really.
The beach at Totaranui
Wainui Bay - Abel Tasman
We had a good hike, all the same but were quite keen to retreat back to our little bungalow in Collingwood and a day hike out at Cape Farewell.
Panorama at Cape Farewell
The motherlode!
Michiel works our bounty into a green curry mussel stew. Not all of the mussels were as big as his hand, but this one was!
The view from Collingwood
Sigh...the area is so beautiful, the beaches are gorgeous, the people are so laid back, friendly and liberal and the mussels are just there for the taking...If Golden Bay weren't so far away, we'd move there in a second.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
